


inextinguishable

by ZARCV



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Gen, a lot of flame symbolism, i write too much symbolism and need to chill out a little bit, oh wow another one-shot who could have guessed??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 23:12:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8943313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZARCV/pseuds/ZARCV
Summary: Light was not something he could extinguish so easily, no matter how much the darkness tainted and stained his conscience.





	

To endure the darkness, he needed strength. Z-ARC knew this—he'd known this all along. Strength and power went hand-in-hand, but to think _he_ wasn't the mightiest being around…

It was a shocking gesture that spat in the face of all he was—all that Z-ARC had _become_.

His hatred and sorrows could not drown the light, no matter how hard he tried—even if the darkness within consumed everything good in him, it could not extinguish the light that still burned beneath his skin. Wicked lights glowed from the depths, all but focused intensely on his face—or was it all their faces, now that they had become one and the same?

And still, one by one they all began to fade away into the darkness, each multicolored light blip-blipping out of existence. Blue, green, fuschia—and it lingered the longest, this one, the flickering, blinking light smiling in its malevolence.

And then red was all that was left. A burning, consuming fire of anger and despair… and of kindness still. No, they were not mere lights—they were his fragments' eyes and hearts.

And this one's name was…

Yuya. The name, it came soft and easily. He was like a raging fire that did not burn, did not hurt, but rather comforted—it sprung up new life on the earthly lands that its writhing limbs touched upon. A warmth touched upon his face like the sun, and Yuya began to materialize there, in a faint image—like a bright, shining light.

Then came the blue light—Yuto, was it now—and he felt rage and insurmountable regret, with his fires burning with justice, the kind that sacrificed everything, for one thing only. But still he felt forgiveness and the quiet embrace of eternal slumber—the kind that touched the body and held one's mind prisoner for the eons to come. Grief tore across his face like a thunderstorm, biting and clawing at his throat, and Yuto, too began to materialize, as faint in life, as he was in death.

Yugo was the green light's name. He was the fire of passions that devoured the mind and danced asunder with the hearts of others—and yet it sparked embers and lit up the night, birthing new hopes and glowing brighter and brighter still. Weight pressed down on his chest, making it harder to breathe amidst the excitement—and he could hear it now, too, the laughter and the joking in so many forgotten voices. And then, Yugo materialized, all of his colors vibrantly pulsing.

And the fuschia light's name was…

Yuuri. The name did not come as easily as the others had. Nor did his fire rage and consume, but rather it burned slowly, taking in whatever it came across, until… until it became uncontrollable, and utterly ravenous. He could feel it. All of the bitterness. All of the days spent alone, kneeling on bare knees and tending to life with gentle hands. A deep resentment rooted itself deep within, burying its source away from prying hands—and Z-ARC choked and struggled to breathe, hands clutching at his chest…

Yuuri began to materialize, more solid with each passing second. No, they all were. Their eyes fluttered open with a sigh, a bright glow lingering in them for a moment for two, and then—and then…

Z-ARC—no, Zarc—no, Z-ARC, no, no, no, _no!_

His head ached and burned, as if their flames had licked him there—and then Yuya approached him steadily, though hesitant to breathe. His eyes were kind and full of love—it was funny, he had never thought that he, himself, would ever be again capable of that sort of thing, and yet, here he was. Staring at himself right in the face.

“Are you sure?” Yuto is breezy and quick to suspect, grasping his other half's shoulders.

“He's caused us a lot of pain,” Yugo adds, always quick on the uptake and yet still so far behind.

Yuya smiles, softer and quieter, until his eyes glowed with a sadness that reflected on his face.

“I've never been surer of anything else in my life.” He says quietly.

And slowly his fragment pressed his hands to his face, igniting within him a flame that chased away the dark—this one was a golden flame, flickering with a sort of reconciliation. It stole away his breath.

Strength was not power alone. He was mighty, yes, but in gaining power unimaginable, he had left behind _something_. Something precious to him—he had left behind his name and all he was in life.

His name was not Z-ARC, but Zarc. His flames flickered and burned an unearthly golden hue, of things that had passed, and of things that were soon to pass. It was the feeling of home, of belonging, that he had chased all this time—and it had been here all along. Deep in the recesses of his self, beneath the mask and emptiness that had wrapped him around like a vice. A madness consumed him, laughter and grief alike mingled in his voice and Zarc's knees buckled and left him kneeling, with the sorrow echoing wildly in this vast space they all shared.

And he kneeled there, head bowed down to all of his fragments—no, _his_ fragments no longer, they had all grown away from him. They were _his_ equal, a person of their own, as he was once.

“People change, you know?” Yuya whispers with lips half parted in a smile. “We were you, once, and we could have been you, once.”

Yuto and Yugo were not as impartial, but relented with unreadable expressions edging their faces—those of consideration and doubt.

“If you think that to be true,” Yuuri speaks at last, voice calm and clear. “Then I trust your decision, Yuya.”


End file.
